Rise of the Fifth
The Hidden College Part 1
Pages 31 to 45

Oh he was ever so close now. He would follow her, taunt her little by little and wear her down, so by the time they were brought to Triverne she would be little more than a vessel. Ideal. She didn't want to accept the mana, but she would have to. It was all to come, and it would work in his favour. Just a little longer...not long now.

She could scream and shout at him, but she could do nothing more. He found it ever so amusing.

Not long now... every time she bled a little it drew him closer. So close...

He had died so she would live, and now with her life, he would arise again.

~*~

Youlvi sat in his favourite armchair, ancient eyes staring hard at the young fire. Had he done the right thing revealing the location of the girl? Kelthan had to know, or his life would be forfeit as would Youlvi's only living relative. A war was brewing, a war between two powers that Youlvi hoped never to cross paths with again. And it all hinged somehow on the girl.

"I am sorry my girl," he said to the fire.

~*~

Pen could sense his friend’s anger. He'd always had the ability to sense how people were feeling. To empathise with them. Something he found strange since he was no mage and had no history of mages in his family, but nonetheless, her anger was thick, surrounding her slight frame. He was, however, glad that Delenar's interruption had stopped him from going back to an old life.

It was a life that few knew of, none that were still alive anyway. That night he had nearly let slip to Joibri everything about his past, everything that only two living people knew. Two living people that could cause a hell of a lot of bother for him.

Feeling very defeated as the blood started to run anew, Joibri sank to her knees and simply sat in the overwhelming red shadows that were clouding her vision. Still the damn man who was supposed to be dead chanted, though as of yet Joibri couldn't figure out to what purpose.

She waited for Penrold and Delenar to catch up with her before pointing to her left,

"We shouldn’t go that way, or that way," she pointed to her right. She still confused herself. She leant forward onto her hands and let a deep breath escape, watching the trees up ahead glow with the strange mana, "I can't even kill anything with it!"

Then, something tugged at her senses, from up ahead. It was that screeching noise...getting closer and closer...

"Do you hear that?" she asked, looking behind and up at the two males.

~*~

Kaynel entered his personal catacomb, a place even Dystran did not know about. He was not looking forward to the communion he was about to make. The Master would be unhappy with his lack of progress. He had failed to find any new information on Arthimus and his accomplices, even worse he had not been able to persuade Dystran not to send Korius. There were few mages powerful enough to stop the Master’s plans but Korius was one, even if he didn’t know his own potential. If he joined the Fifth College then it could be disastrous.

Kaynel still hoped the Master realised that as a Circle Seven mage he got all the information from Xetesk first hand. That, at the moment, was all that was saving his pitiful life. He sat in the corner of his small room deep under Xetesk and prepared the spell. He searched for a while before locking onto the Master's signature.

~*~

The mental tug was left alone for a few more minutes whilst the others in the room were dismissed. A few looked slightly put out at having to leave so soon after arriving, but one look at their Superior's face told them it would be safer for them to do so without arguing.

"Speak, and be quick about it," the Master's mental voice boomed through Kaynel's skull, the tone struck with annoyance at being disturbed. "What is it you have to report to me, my servant?"

~*~

Still worried about the approaching noise that neither of the males behind her seemed to hear, Joibri tried to get to her feet but found herself falling back to the ground uselessly,

"Oh shit... Pen I can't..." she gasped, trying again and nearly succeeding, but ultimately failing. "What the hell is going on here?!" she put her hands to her wounds again and found they were bleeding more. In panic she reached to the hem of her already torn riding cloak and shredded it, trying to bind the punctures.

Still the screeching approached, and Joibri looked desperately over her shoulder,

"Delenar, help me stand up." When he reluctantly did as he was asked, Joibri looked hard at Penrold, "Please tell me you can hear it?!" Then she was distracted by something in front of her - it must have been some form of attack that Penrold couldn't see, for she dived in front of him out of Delenar's grip, shouting "Don't you dare!!"

To Joibri's sight, the red shadows were now developing... and they moved with their own minds.

Very confused by now, Joibri took her sword from her back and began to slash at the air as the new red shadows closed in to the accompaniment of Arithmus' laughter, making the two men back away for fear of being decapitated. Pathetic on her knees, she tumbled this way and that, until the pressure around her started again.

She let out another scream as it grabbed her all at once, forcing the sword from her hands and her limbs to contract together. Once again, Arithmus laughed.

Simultaneously Pen was knocked from his feet, and he felt like he was falling in slow motion. His eyes were closing, but he was unable to open them, as though he were in a state of sleep paralysis. He felt himself land, the force effectively jarring his body, but he felt no pain. Only that he were swimming inside his own mind.

It had been a long while since this had happened and he'd prayed to the Gods that it never would again. But since the occurrences had begun, he had known it would only be a matter of time before he was called on to be used as a tool in the battle.

"Penrold," Dystran's voice filled his head. Though Pen could sense that no matter how commanding the Lord of the Mount was trying to sound to him, that he was tired. "You know why you are being summoned." He made it a statement rather than a question. After all, how could Pen not know why the bastard was contacting him.

His past was finally catching him up. Even more reason for Selik to hate him, and now Joibri too if she even got the chance to see him in the state he would be in. Dystran seemed to sense his thoughts.

"You will not be changed back to your former.... state." He paused. "Not unless you refuse to do what is commanded of you by your Lord." Anger spread through his whole body.

"You are not my Lord! I was never a child of yours or any other fucking college. Your college took me as a lad to experiment on me. That hardly makes you any Lord whom I should feel any respect for." His reaction did little to improve the mood of Xetesk's Lord.

"So be it. If you wish to act insubordinately I shall be forced to return you into your former state." Pen could sense the Lord was about to cut short their communication and so he started.

"My Lord," his voice was, however, strained at this statement. "Though I'm sure it would give you great pleasure in returning me into a state of demonic mind, I'm afraid I must disappoint you. I shall do your bidding so long as it includes no harming of any friend." Dystran laughed. A cold sound in Pen's head.

"Any command I make of you, will be followed through. And if you refuse, I will be forced to take you in and... well I’m sure by now you know what goes on." And with his last words he was gone. Pen could finally open his eyes, a cold sweat covered his entire body. Fear and anger filling him.

In the meantime Joibri forced her eyes to remain open, trying to look for some way to escape the pressure. But instead, she only saw the red shadows of the real world glow brighter around Penrold, then brighter still as he fell to the ground. She wanted to call out, but her voice was trapped in her throat. For a moment she had time to pity the position Delenar was finding himself in, but that was when something different happened. Her real-world sight snapped shut and she was dragged back into the strange other-world...

And something inside of Joibri was crushed.

Her struggles stopped, and she could only lie there on the ground in a pain that encased her. She felt herself leave the ground, and she felt her wounds reopening and bleeding but she didn't care.

She didn't even care when she stopped breathing, because breathing hardly seemed to matter - she couldn't tell anymore if she was alive or dead. All was red.

"You will accept the mana, whether you like it or not," Arithmus spoke as he stood over her, a hand around her throat. "And no one can save you. No one. Not even that friend to which you desperately cleave."

~*~

The trap he had set was a simple one, but effective. Kane had tied his horse to the railings in front of the small building, and had gone inside. The curtains were drawn and lights and a fire were lit, the light pouring out around the sides of the cloth hanging in front of the windows, making it appear that he would be staying for a little while. He then exited through his escape tunnel, which ran around to the opposite side to which his pursuer would approach, allowing him time to organise himself.

He had left his mage blade in its scabbard, draped over the back of a chair in the hut, favouring instead his dagger pair, as he always did in his assassin work. Sensing nothing in the mana spectrum, he went straight into his CloakWalk, his movements swift and silent through the woodland. His follower finally came into view some two hundred yards away from the building, making a poor attempt at trying to tie its ride to a small sapling. The rider appeared to be armed with nothing more than a short range cross-bow, with looked like it hadn't been fired for a long time and which, Kane thought, must have been issued only to fend off wild animals. It had taken him no time at all to disarm the rider and render them unconscious with a pommel blow to the temple, the surprise etched on the rider's face as he appeared from no-where.

Having dragged the rider back to the hut, Kane had tied them to one of the chairs in the room, one which he kept bolted to the floor for such occasions. A splash of drinking water from the rider's canteen (Kane was not about to waste his own purified water on such scum) woke the would-be bandit, and after a little Dordovan "diplomacy", he managed to learn that this was no ordinary thief, but a rookie mercenary hired to tail him for reasons unknown. The only other piece of information Kane could extract from the babbling mouth was that the rookie's employer had originated the offer in Julatsa, only half a day's ride from his current position. Kane silenced the endless noise with another pommel blow.

Deciding that his captive would be trouble if released, even if just a rookie, Kane cleared the hut of anything useful, retrieved his mage blade and moved the two horses now in his possession away from the hut before using a FlameOrb casting to burn the building to the ground, along with his sleeping captive. He would have no room for loose-ends this time.

He rode for Julatsa, and more answers.

~*~

Delenar found confusion and surprise were constant companions these days. For the days following the escape from the Blackwing camp, he had feared life was becoming safe and normal again. Happily, it seemed there were plenty more life-threatening surprises left.

He had walked close behind Joibri with the warrior Pen when all of a sudden she had asked if they had heard anything. Looking confused she had turned on the pair and suddenly swung at them with superb speed. They had narrowly missed being killed and Delenar was ready to draw a blade when Joibri continued swinging, this time at thin air. Realisation struck that she was under attack as she began glowing red.

"Pen, what’s goi- You've got to be joking!" he had shouted as he saw Pen was glowing red as well. And then they disappeared. Just vanished.

Now Delenar was sitting in the exact same spot partially waiting for the pair to reappear, partially contemplating whether he was going insane. A cracking sound brought his mind into focus. It was behind him, very quiet but he was sure of what it was. Humans made so much noise as they walked through the woods. Spinning he launched his knife, which whistled through the air before striking a tree, an inch from the man's face.

"Gods Delenar, are you trying to kill me?" said Kelthan.

"I was contemplating it. What are you doing here?" Kelthan sat opposite the elf.

"I'm here to talk of your mission and your pay." Delenar smiled,

"Let me guess, because I made contact with the pair I have failed and pay is...non-forthcoming."

"No Delenar, you have vastly impressed our employer - he talks of you as his greatest asset at present. The way you have initiated yourself into the....team, now you can gather information for him! Failed! You have succeeded above all expectations and your pay has been doubled." Delenar replied;

"Kelthan I need to know what I'm looking for and who these people are. You want to know what I've discovered? That the elf girl is some kind of mage, but not like any college mage. It seems that not only our employer wants them, and this is my favourite bit - they are both able to disappear into thin air."

"What do you mean disappear?" replied Kelthan, confused.

"Do you see them here? They vanished," said Delenar, now leaning over his small fire to look at Kelthan. "Listen Kelthan, you've got me involved in something big here! YOU! Now you want me to get deeper into this mess."

"Delenar please!" Kelthan urged, a look of pleading merging with a look of despair. "We're both in deeper than we would like but it's too late for that now. We can ride this out and both walk away richer men. And the way things are with the employer, you could be looking at permanent work."

Delenar sighed, he liked the mysterious pair and felt bad about spying on them, but finally someone was noticing how valuable he could be. He couldn't allow this opportunity to slip away.

"You owe me Kelthan. I'll spy, but I will not harm. If this order changes to some kind of assassination I won't be carrying it out, you understand?"

"Yes, just find them and get what information you can. You know how to reach me." And with that Kelthan left.

~*~

Somewhere in the woodlands not far from the site, a pair of eyes watched as Kelthan rose and walked away. Something of a smile crossed its face. The man had not failed, the elf would do as bid and the Master would be pleased.

~*~

Delenar awoke shivering, the dying embers of last night’s fire had provided little heat. He rose to fetch some timber and small twigs he had left ready to light a fire that morning. Carefully placing the smallest twigs onto the embers, he blew gently. Gradually a small rise grew, catching the carefully placed twigs and already beginning to light the larger logs. Light and heat spilled over the clearing, warming Delenar's cold skin. Taking in the comfort of the fire and the silence of the night, Delenar felt at peace.

His peace was short lived.

Settling down in his makeshift bed once more, Delenar gazed over the clearing in disbelief. Lying exactly where they had 'disappeared' was Joibri and Penrold, seemingly asleep. For a moment Delenar thought about rushing over to wake the pair and finally try to get some answers as to what happened. Instead he sighed, pulled his rug over his shoulders and slept peacefully. It could wait till morning.

~*~

Lena thought her eyes would pop out of her head. While she was jogging after Silt and the other pudgy man, her head was constantly moving, trying to take in everything she saw. As the college was under the earth it was dark and damp, despite the numerous torches and fires they passed along the way. Actually, she realised, the walls were glistening with water. And every now and then she heard a faint glugging sound, which suggested water was being pumped somewhere. But from where? There wasn't a spring for miles around. The only river was on the other side of the lake... The lake! Of course, she had thought that its level was very low, considering the season.

‘Amazing really, if you think about it... But I can't have been the only one to realise how low the water level of the lake is...’ While pondering this problem, she realised that the two men she was following were slowing down. They came to rest in front of a huge metal door, the other man saying something to Silt in a quiet voice. As Lena came up, he closed his mouth and glared at her. He obviously still wasn't pleased that she was here. Silt turned around and said,

"You're going to meet the college counsellors now. This is a bit sooner than I hoped it to be... But anyway, if you plan on staying here, I would advise you to keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking." Lena sighed,

"Whatever." She had thought he had lightened up a bit, but that must have only been the excitement of being inside the college again. Silt looked at her for another moment through narrowed eyes, before nodding at the other one and saying,

"You can open it now." The man twisted the doorknob and gave the door a huge shove. Slowly the door opened.

~*~

Even though Xetesk was close to the Blackthorne mountains, Korius had never really looked upon their beauty. Now at foot of the mountain range and two hours from Triverne Lake he felt a new sense of vigour. He looked up at the snow-covered mountain tips and felt strangely happy. This leg of his journey had gone rather well, he was making good progress and no longer heard the sounds of the previous day. Whatever had been following him had given up, either that or it was reporting to another.

Korius shook that thought out of his mind, feeling good for the first time in so many years. The sun was shining, the birds in song and he knew he'd be at his destination before night fall. He'd also met few people on his journey, of those not one suspected him and he hadn’t needed to lie yet. Maybe, just maybe this was going to all go as planned.

~*~

The image above Joibri had frozen, Arithmus' hands still coiled around her throat and nothing moving. She felt...empty...like a vessel, because although she was barely aware of anything else, she could feel something seeping into her ever so slowly, like a trickle of water into a leaking boat.

She couldn't tell if she was actually in this other-world, or if it was just a vision and she was in the real world.

Either way, she wasn't breathing.

~*~

Kaynel screamed in pain. The small room, the stench and thumping in his skull made him sick. The Master had not been happy and his frustration had flared the mana in the communion spell. The sound of his voice so loud in Kaynel’s head had almost killed Kaynel. But though he lived from that another threat on his life had awaited him as he woke.

"Tell me!" screamed Dystran.

Kaynel breathed heavily, but not uttering a single word. Not even he, a Circle Seven mage, knew this torture chamber had even existed. He was chained to the wall, shirt ripped from his back and covered in cuts. The two burly guards next to the Lord of the Mount held whips in hands and where supplying increasing force between Dystran's questions. Dystran's demands.

"Your persistence in keeping quiet will only be your demise." Dystran was frustrated, he had been whipping Kaynel for half an hour now, and the only things to come from the prisoner’s mouth were screams of pain. Kaynel's silence would soon force harder methods but Dystran did not have time now. He turned and left the room, addressing his guards on the way out. "I will return in an hour. I do hope he is suitably... tenderised by then."

Kaynel didn’t like the sounds of that. He knew what would come next though - magical attack then stripping the mana from his body. A painful but not life-threatening procedure. He knew Dystran would not kill him until he got some information, with the new threat of a fifth college Kaynel had time to keep quiet. If only the Master had kept his rage down then Xetesk would have never noticed the flair in the mana stream. Kaynel just hoped he could frustrate Dystran for long enough before his soul was given to the Demons.

~*~

The fire flickered into life, instantly warming the tired old man. The room was dimly lit for his guest, a being that feared and loathed the light.

"You are ready to tell my master what he needs to know?" hissed the shadow.

Youlvi sighed, he knew the information he had would give would disturb the balance. So far the only thing preventing either the Master or Arithmus from ruling Balaia was each other. If one found a weakness in the other, it could cause untold damage.

"I remember you master well, beast, he was powerful then but he always lacked the patience to see the obvious."

The shadow remained silent.

"When Arithmus was killed he invoked a spell he should not have. ManaForm was still experimental, a way of changing and merging with the Fifth, while the power of the Fifth heals the body. It was not supposed to be used in death. Now he has no form, and after so long he has become inseparable from the mana itself."

Youlvi sighed, the time to betray his old master upon him. He briefly thought of the elf girl he would be condemning, guilt washing over him. Then he pictured his grand-daughter and words began to form.

"In casting the spell, he also changed the assassin, she was touched by the Fifth. In her the spell found a form for Arithmus. Arithmus is a part of the girl, the mana is seeking to place Arithmus into her form, but she is fighting it. If your master wants an end to Arithmus, he must kill the girl, only then will the ManaForm of Arithmus break down."

The shadow made a noise akin to glee.

"Your co-operation will ensure my Master’s success, well done Youlvi!" said the shadow, "Your grand daughter I believe." Seemingly from the shadows dancing on the walls stepped the young girl.

"Claera!" said Youlvi rushing toward her and embracing her tightly.

"Grandfather!" she gratefully replied. The shadow stepped backwards, laughing softly, and then disappeared from the small room.

~*~

"Hey, stop hogging all the action - lemme have another go!" The whips cracked in unison, both hitting the mage across the shoulder blades, the leather tongues scratching fresh wounds into already-rendered flesh. Dribbles of blood continued to flow freely as they struck again and again until their arms grew tired. As both sat down in chairs that groaned beneath the considerable weight, they looked at the fallen Circle Seven mage, his legs buckled, head lolling freely, and laughed out loud.

Having lost consciousness for the second or third time, they resorted to throwing scraps of food at him, although most missed by some distance. The guards didn't care - they were enjoying their power over a former master. So much so that at first they didn't hear it - a low hiss here, a slight foot movement there - that by the time they stopped to listen it was too late. The three Shadows moved swiftly, plunging daggers, short swords and metal claws into every part of the guards, blood quickly slicking the ground. In the light of the lanterns the blood looked almost as black as the Shadows themselves.

A quick slash across the chains was all it needed for Kaynel's body to slump to the floor motionless. A Shadow moved to the body, sword raised to strike, when suddenly it was thrown across the room, hitting the wall hard. It hissed, then realised who had spoiled its fun. The Master wanted Kaynel alive for some reason, and so it would be. Two of them picked up the Mage and entered the shadows in the corner of the room, the third remaining. It moved to the body of the nearest fallen guard, and effortlessly hacked off what was left of an arm. Gripping the oozing stump in its hand, it began writing the Master's simple message in blood on the wall where Kaynel had been chained:

"Balaia is mine."

~*~

‘So I need to speak to him? I thought he would have died long ago.’ Kane thought as he rode for his next stop. It hadn't taken him long in Julatsa to find the information he required. An elven mercenary had spotted riders heading towards the home of a former Xeteskian research mage not but a couple of days ago. It was there that Kane decided he would find his next piece to the puzzle. He would use force if necessary.

~*~

They moved in precisely where the Master had told them to. Each man had his own role to play in the attack, but not one single man trusted the figure chosen to lead the raid - a tall being shrouded in a long cloak, the hood pulled far over the face, seemingly obscuring all light from entering. There was only darkness beneath the fabric, and when they could not see the face of their leader men tended to get a little edgy.

The one they were after was lying motionless, the arrow wounds still leaving a visible blood stain on the she-elf's clothing. The other two, according to the figure, were to be taken alive as well if possible, but their deaths would not be regarded as failure should they fall.

The figure nodded its command, and the twenty men charged the clearing at once, battle cries roared, swords and daggers drawn and swinging as they drew closer to their quarry.

Kelthan lay about ten minutes’ ride from where he had left Delenar. His horse was nuzzling him, though he had trouble feeling it. The pain had made most of his body numb and his senses were swimming. Still trying to understand what happened, he replayed the scene in his mind:

After leaving Delenar, he had come to report to the Master’s minions, telling them of his success with the elven hunter.

"He will obey the Master," he had said with a smile. The shadow wore a heavy cloak to protect him from the light of day, and Kelthan hadn't seen the shadow sneer at him.

"That is good, but not enough. My Master has brought new plans forward, the girl must be captured. Have your elf do this." The unearthly voice sent a shiver up Kelthan’s spine, he began to stutter.

"I...don't understand...the Master wanted her watched."

"Change of plan, human," sneered the shadow, taking a step towards the man.

"But...I explained...Delenar won't take her against her will, he is just a spy."

"Then you are useless human!"

A clawed hand had clove into Kelthan's stomach so quickly he felt it before he saw it. The creature then laughed before moving in the direction of Delenar’s campsite, scores of men emerging from hiding places to follow.

More pain brought Kelthan's mind back to the present. How long had he been bleeding for? Struggling to rise, Kelthan held to a single thought. He must warn Delenar. The hunter had been a good client and it would be a shame to see Delenar die because of his own stupidity.
"You...were right...Youlvi," said Kelthan between spasms of pain, "I got in too deep." And with that he rode for the camp.

~*~

"Pen, up!" shouted Delenar, quickly stringing his bow.

"What, what’s going on?" demanded Pen, rolling to his feet and standing in front of the unconscious Joibri. Suddenly the small clearing swelled with activity as men burst from the trees all around them. "Shit!" said Pen as he drew his sword. "Who are they?"

"I don't know," said Delenar, "But they don't look too welcoming."

The men drew weapons and charged towards the pair, and Delenar couldn't help thinking his luck would never change. Notching one arrow after another, the elven hunter began to loose them, each shaft burying itself in a target. He managed four shots, three of which were fatal before the men were upon them. Drawing his short sword, Delenar leapt to meet his first opponent.

Pen stood over Joibri, sizing up the men approaching him. There were twenty of them that he could see and twenty was too many. One of the men charged Pen but was killed swiftly with a lightening fast riposte. A second attacker sliced a thin cut in Pen's arm but his next blow was parried before a massive swing nearly decapitated him. A third fell to Pen's mighty attack, but he soon found himself fending off several attackers. Delenar was only alive thanks to his agility; he was no swordsman and was struggling to defend himself. Seeing a gap in his opponent’s defences he lanced his blade forward, burying it in the man’s stomach. He quickly flipped a knife into the air and sent it hammering towards a second target. Risking a glance he saw Pen struggling against three men, but then he was defending again and had no time to worry about his companions.

The shadow emerged from the tree-line to see the two warriors defending furiously. Without showing any urgency the shadow approached the large man standing above his quarry and leapt upon him. The man fell heavily and tried to quickly rise and bring his great sword to bear, but it was no use. The mercenaries struck him with booted feet until he laid still, blood gushing from several cuts and a broken nose. Bending down, the shadow lifted the elf girl, moved back her eyelids and gazed into her red eyes.

"Finally..." it whispered before moving in the direction of the trees.

"What of the bowman?" said one of the mercenaries. The shadow turned to see the elven hunter dispatch his enemy with a thrown knife, before leaping away from an axe aimed at his neck. The elf would be overrun soon enough.

"Kill him." said the shadow as he made for the trees once again. The twelve remaining men turned on the bowman and charged.

Delenar plunged his sword into its scabbard and awaited the attack. He had always imagined he would find glory in life, something to take back to his homeland. Something that would make his fathers eyes light up like they did when his brother succeeded. It was his eternal hope that he would find his use in life before death came for him, but as always his luck led him down a different path. Now he saw his death approaching for a reason he did not know. No glory, no success. A great sadness fell over him - he would die and not be missed. Kelthan was a good man but no true friend, his family certainly wouldn't miss him, only the young elf girl he had seen carried off had ever shown him any kindness. And now he had failed her.

Dropping to one knee Delenar felt for his throwing knives. The two in his sleeves he had used, but he had the eight in his baldric and the two in his boots. He drew these first and let fly. The first two men to run at him fell, both with mortal hits. A third fell with a knife embedded in his eye and a fourth fell heavily with a knife buried in his thigh. The fifth man had almost reached Delenar when a horse thundered into him, crushing the man in a flail of hooves. The rider practically fell from the saddle and drew a sword.

"Delenar ride! Find a mage...called Youlvi near Julatsa."

"What the...Kelthan! What's going on? You're bleeding -"

"I wish I hadn't dragged you into this...but now I can do...something. Now ride Delenar! And remember Youlvi!" shouted Kelthan. Delenar stared hard into the eyes of a man he only ever thought of as an employer. Kelthan was hurting as his eyes betrayed his fear. "Please my friend just ride," said Kelthan as he turned straight into a sword. The blade smashed his ribs and pierced a lung. Swinging his blade Kelthan attacked once, embedding the blade in the man’s hip. Then mercifully the world pitched to blackness.

Delenar rode hard, tears coursing down his cheeks. He had watched Kelthan fall from the edge of the clearing before fleeing into the woodlands. Kelthan had died to save him; no one had ever done so much for the young elf and the elf would not even have thought Kelthan a friend.

"Why did you do that for me Kelthan," he whispered to the wind as he made his way towards Julatsa.

~*~

It had all been going so well. Korius was rounding the south of Triverne Lake when he dropped. The pain in his head, the sudden throbbing forced him to his knees. His eyes snapped shut and for a moment he felt paralysed. On opening his eyes it was red. Everything a shade of red. Most deep and dark, but some quite vibrant. Then came the voice, it shocked him at first. It was so close but no one was there.

"Come, join me."

Korius struggled, his eyes darted around. Still no-one appeared.

"Join me Korius. Together we can destroy Xetesk." Under his breath Korius whispered one word,

"Arthimus."

~*~

Vuldaroq, Lord High Mage of Dordover entered the tavern, a cloak around his rotund body and obscuring his face. He joined a man at a table in the corner. He started to speak as soon as he sat down,

"I hate to say this, but I need your help and any information you have." The man opposite replied with a slightly slurred voice,

"Ah, so once again I become the accomplice of you college. Hardly fitting for a man of my stature."

"Damnit Selik, I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t feel the need." Selik looked unimpressed.

"Here," he threw a small bundle of paper onto the table which Vuldaroq took and read quickly. Vuldaroq seemed a little confused before finally saying,

"They will pay."

Selik smiled to himself - it had all been too easy. The colleges were such a bickering bunch, they were always on the brink of war and Selik's information could just have started that. He hoped Xetesk was ready, that way there would be large casualties on both sides. Plus this could bring in the other colleges. With the news of the Fifth College a large-scale war could see the mages weakened and then he could finally rid Balaia of magic once and for all.

"Now, my friend," stated Selik in a sarcastic tone. "Here’s what I need from you."

~*~

The Master was not in a happy mood. The recent events had meant he needed to accelerate his plans. Kaynel had left him no option, the mage’s foolishness was only matched by his stupidity. The Master knew he had been tortured by Xetesk and couldn’t afford for him to spill any information. Kaynel was lucky to be alive, but if he thought the torture in Xetesk was bad he had yet to know what The Master had in store for him.

~*~

Dystran entered the torture room and could not believe his eyes. Two dead guards, a message on the wall and no sign of Kaynel. To say he was infuriated was an understatement. He continued across the blood-slick floor, looking for any clue as to who could have done this. He tripped over something on the floor, looking down he found it to be someone’s arm or at least what was left of it. Dystran gagged but kept the bile in his mouth.

If there were clues, Dystran couldn’t see them. The message could mean anyone, but Dystran was sure Kaynel was working for the Fifth College and was determined to find out if any of his so-called allies in Xetesk were doing the same.

~*~

The mage seemed suddenly alert and wary. The figure shrank back into the shadows of the tree-line, watching intently. The man muttered a name, one that the figure had been told to listen for at all times.

‘Arithmus - so, you have made a deal with my Master's enemy - I should report this as soon as I get the chance, but I need to find out were he's going,’ it thought.

~*~

He arrived at the settlement shortly before dusk, booking a room at the single inn on the main track running alongside a small stream. He placed some of his belongings in his room and placed wards on the bags and the door itself. He didn't trust the servants here, having never stayed before, and there were one or two rogues in the bar itself who looked like the thieving kind.

Having secured his baggage he went back downstairs to the main bar, and finding a seat in the corner ordered meat, bread, cheese and fruit to be brought along with some mulled wine, but having no wine in the cellar, he had to settle for a flagon of ale. Before he ate, he took out a special knife he had purchased in Julatsa - a wooden handle into which was mounted a small blade. The blade, he had been informed, would turn blue if poison was present in foods. He tested each one, but found none. Relieved, he devoured the plateful, attracting a few unsavoury glances from some of the women-folk present.

‘I must look a state,’ he thought. He had not bathed in the weeks since he had left Blackthorne, having had no time to do so in Julatsa. He finished his next mouthful and asked the inn-keeper to have the bathing room prepared for his use in an hour.

He finished the remaining food and took deep gulps of the ale, belching after he had finished. He ordered another flagon, then set his mind onto the tasks for the morrow.

~*~

Kaynel's wounds had been cleaned and wrapped before being infused with a BodyCast, the spell rendering the man motionless. His eyes flicked around as he looked up at the ceiling of the dark corridor move past as the litter to which he was strapped was dragged through the building. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew it would not be good, and his fear was only worsened when the men dragging him would not answer his pleas.

The familiar terrifying voice boomed out throughout the chamber:

"Drop him there." The litter crashed onto the floor, the sound echoing briefly inside the small room. The men bowed quickly and left without a single word. "You have failed me Kaynel. You allowed yourself to be caught by that worm Dystran." The voice became slightly distant, distracted.

The torches blew out suddenly. It terrified Kaynel to the core.

"Such a feeble man, with petty delusional visions of his own grandeur. He will be one of the first I shall crush beneath my feet as I cast my Shadow over this land." The Master was moving, the slight drag of a cloak over stone moving around in the darkness. Another noise then, somewhere to his left, a kind of hissing, followed by a clicking sound. Kaynel's eyes darted in every direction, but he still could not move, and he was unable to use his mana to enhance his vision - the Master must have ordered a ColdRoom to be set up!

The hissing grew louder, but came from the direction of his feet, and then from behind his head. Soon it was all around him, the sounds grating at every nerve, Kaynel's fear building even more. Above it all, yet somehow quiet as a whisper, the voice came once more.

"None shall touch him until I return. I wish to watch this time." The door opened, a small shaft of light entering the room then disappearing just as quickly. The Master had left him, but he was not alone, for the hissing continued, growing higher in pitch until it was almost too mush for his ears to cope with.

For the brief moment of light, Kaynel witnessed what was creating that dreadful noise. Suddenly he was aware he was screaming, a noise louder than anything his body had ever produced before, a sound of pure terror...

~*~

The red in his vision was fading but he could still feel the power of Arthimus around him. As he neared the northern shores of Triverne Lake he heard the voice again.

"Korius, join me."

The mana around Korius was dense and he could feel the power. He liked this, an upper hand to destroy Dystran. And then he saw it, it was all so clear. Where the gateway was, the incantation needed to open it. Surely Arthimus was putting this information straight into Korius' head. He just couldn't comprehend the power. It was glorious, the different strands of red in the mana stream.

He wanted this, he needed this. Arthimus spoke again,

"Korius, you know what you must do." Korius only uttered three words before going to open the gateway,

"Yes, my master."

~*~

"I won't be gone long Claera, you will be safe here," said Youlvi to his young grand-daughter.

"What if the monsters come again?" she asked innocently, an edge of fear in her voice.

"They won't my sweet, I have a few tricks left and right now, they can't even see you."

"But why do you have to go?" Youlvi sighed,

"I put a young lady in danger, and now she will need my help. I must go now. Stay in this room at all times!"

"I love you grandfather." Youlvi felt his heart melt and smiled at the young girl.

"I love you too, now go."

With that the girl closed the door to the small room with Youlvi standing outside. He scanned the walls briefly and then done something he hadn't done since his experiments with the Arithmus. He reached for the dimension of the Fifth. Feeling the mana clash with his Xeteskian mana, he did as he was taught by his masters and began shaping the two mana types to fit together, the colour a deep purple. With the new mana he began to shape his experimental spell. It was nearly an hour later, with the wind whipping at his face that Youlvi finally opened his eyes and said one word,

"ShadowBind.”

~*~

Selik rode towards Lystern, two Blackwing guards flanking him. He'd lost the elf and her accomplices but that wouldn’t stop his quest; for the moment he didn’t care about finding more information about the Fifth College. The fact they were real was putting the colleges on edge and it was the perfect time to strike. His information about Arthimus had been enough to make Dordover think about attacking Xetesk, next came Lystern. Heryst would be a harder man to convince, but where Dordover went Lystern seemed to follow.

Although not really caring at the moment, Selik considered that maybe he should be looking further for the Fifth College but Vuldaroq would see to that. He hoped it wasn’t going to come back to haunt him but he really didn’t have enough time to continue the search. He had a war to start.

~*~

Delenar slid from the saddle and walked his gelding into the stable. The stable-hand took the horse and after a few words and exchange of coin, he ensured it was grain-fed and brushed down. Delenar then made his way to the inn. He was exhausted, the ride had been hard and now most of his body ached. Even so, he knew sleep would not come quickly, he had so much to think on. In an almost dream-like state he made his way into the inn.

The bar itself was a neat area. Several tables and chairs were positioned next to frosted windows, while the bar occupied the centre of the room. To one side were two doors, one labelled bath rooms and the other simply marked 'upstairs'. Approaching the bar, Delenar wondered at the lack of guests. There was only one man in the inn, he was slowly nursing a mug of ale. A serving girl of striking beauty approached the elf, who was immediately alert to her attractiveness.

"A strong drink m'lady, I trust anything strong will do." She giggled and pulled a bottle from under the bar.

"Only nobles or mages are called Lady, and I am neither," she replied with a smile. Delenar took the small glass of liquor from the girl.

"Are you sure? I'm under your spell already," he said with a smile that took all his will to muster. She laughed and leaned over the bar towards him, her golden hair falling slightly over her face.

"You look sad stranger, and...you look like you need a bath," she giggled again, "Go back there and clean-up. I finish in an hour." He smiled as she moved away and stared into his glass.

"Here's to you Kelthan," he said sadly and drained his glass.

A few minutes later Delenar made his way into the bath and lowered himself into the water. He could not shake thoughts of Kelthan from his head, but hoped the girl would distract him enough to forget the day’s events. The man from the bar entered the room and swam to one side of the bath. At first in no mood for company, Delenar found himself quite relaxed and was pleased the man did not try to disturb him. Then after several minutes on impulse Delenar offered his hand.

"I’m Delenar.”

"Kane, call me Kane,” said the man, smiling and taking Delenar’s hand. ‘Delenar - an elf, obviously, and one fresh from battle,’ Kane thought to himself as he shook the other's hand, seeing the nicks and cuts associated with defending against blades of various types that were clearly visible on the elf's knuckles and fore-arms.

Kane wondered what had happened to him, for elves were seldom ambushed by mere thieves or bandits, which meant something more substantial had to have happened. Maybe some of the information he required could be obtained from this one before he moved onto the mage, Youlvi. Not knowing if he could trust Delenar quite yet, he decided on using a spell.

Kane laid his head back on the side of the bath, his eyes looking straight up at the wooden beams overhead. Long ago, in his Dordovan training, he mastered the art of casting without eye movement. With his hands making tiny movements beneath the water, under the cover of the grime from the two travellers, he began gently manipulating the mana threads for TruthSay, which would enable him to get the information from the elf without harming him. As he finished the casting, he asked his companion his first question,

"You look like you've been to the grave and back, friend. Had a rough journey?"

~*~

The chamber they entered was vast, with a huge round stone table in the middle of it. The walls were covered with torches, lighting up an otherwise pitch-black chamber. About ten men were seated around the table, having an intense debate. The air was thick with tension.

As Silt and Lena approached the table, a man turned around and motioned them to two free places. Silt sat down quickly, gesturing to Lena to do the same when he realised that she was still standing. Lena shrugged and sat down - she was surprised that her presence hadn't been noted yet.

"Thank the gods that you have finally arrived Silt," the man, who had directed them to their places, said. "We've been worried, you two should have been here a day earlier." Lena jolted with surprise - "you two" - but then they had been expecting her as well! How could they have known... Silt was frowning in puzzlement as well,

"We got delayed... How did you know I would bring Lena, Jonak?"

"We've been in contact with Arthimus," Jonak replied, "He said you wouldn't be alone." Silt spoke again,

"But why did Arthimus-" Jonak cut him off,

"We don't have time for that now. A lot has happened while you were away, and the most of it hasn't been good."

"Word has gotten out that a fifth college exists," a man further down the table continued. "And it hasn't been taken well... We are going to be facing war a lot sooner than we hoped to." Silt swore.

"How did that happen?" The man shrugged,

"It doesn't matter now. We have to prepare ourselves. But first we must wait for another guest, who should be arriving any minute now..."

~*~

Delenar relaxed, enjoying the warmth of the bath seeping into him. Close to exhaustion, especially following the days events he didn't see the silent TruthSay cover him. He sighed at Kane’s question, not wishing to talk of the guilt he felt.

"Yes, I failed to help the first two people who ever showed me kindness and one of them died for it." Shocked at his own openness Delenar rose slightly in confusion. "Then I had to ride at full gallop to escape pursuit, I lost many of my knives, my favourite bow and to top it off, the drink here is terrible." Delenar was so stunned at his own outburst he raised partway out of the water. It was only then he saw the mana glowing around him, Dordovan orange.

"Heavens, and I thought I had rough days. Why were you attacked?" said Kane, seemingly unsurprised by Delenar’s eagerness to talk.

"I...I....The girl...she...is of...the Fifth," Delenar stumbled, fighting the TruthSay with all his will, knowing from the mana construct that it was well cast. "You’re a mage! Why have you cast on me?" he continued. Kane lowered his eyes to stare at the elf then, two things shocking him. This elf knew of the Fifth College! A random encounter had turned up a store of information Kane could not ignore. The second shock was that the elf knew what was happening, and Kane was sure he had mastered casting subtlety.

"I am sorry Delenar, but I have much to ask!"

~*~

Youlvi walked inside the inn only minutes from his small room. He was exhausted after casting ShadowBind, as the spell was very difficult and drew on much power. Thankfully it had worked, and knowing Claera was safe made it a more than worthwhile spell.

"Ah Kirelle you grow more beautiful everyday," he said smiling at the young elven girl.

"Youlvi! Its good to see you, did you want something to eat?" she replied sweetly.

"No, just a room for the night. I am too old for large meals before I sleep."

"Isn't your room just around the corner?"

"Yes but -" Youlvi cut off mid sentence, head snapping to the door. The subtlest of spells was being cast in the bathing room, so subtle even Youlvi’s abilities had trouble picking it up. He could normally sense spell casting all over Balaia since his experimentations with Arithmus; whoever was casting here was very talented.
"Excuse me one moment ‘Kel," he said and made his way to the door. He gripped the handle and prepared the spell he needed, and then he turned and entered the room.

Seated in the bath were one man and an elf that was glowing with Dordovan mana.

'How coincidental,' thought Youlvi as he cast his own TruthSay on the man. He almost laughed to himself with the comedy of the situation. "Now why is it that a Dordovan mage is casting spells on this war-torn elf?"

It was only then, when he focused on the elf, that Youlvi recognised his mana signature. The elf that Kelthan had asked him to seek.

"You wouldn't happen to be called Delenar, would you?"

~*~

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